20 



FOREIGN BIRDS FOR CAGE AND AVIARY. 



" it is not unfrequently seen singly, more es.pccially in 

 the vicinity of wooden bungalows. At Thayetniayo 

 one occasioiKilly came into my compound for a day or 

 so, and then suddenly disappeared for a month or two. 

 It will flit into the verandah, sit on the pcst-plate, and 

 remain for a few minutes in perfect silence." Mr. 

 Elliot likewise noticed tliat it was very tame, often 

 cominpc into houses, and liopping about the verandah. 

 It is usually a solitary bird, and feeds entirely on the 

 ground on ants, Coleoptera, and various insects. Its 

 song is said to be very sweet, and is commenced in 

 India for some time before it leaves the couiitrj', not 

 when feeding, but wlien it happens to have taken 

 shelter during the heat of the day. It is caught in the 

 Deccan and on the Bombay coast by the natives, and 

 i'i much prized as a songster, being called by them the 

 H/idma, which luime, however, really applies to the 

 I.ong-tailed Robin [Ciltocinda iiiacrura). Col. Irby, 

 who publishes some interesting notes on its habits in 

 the " Birds of Gibraltar," writes that it frequents daily 

 the same spots, attracting considerable notice, both 

 from its agrteable song and conspicuous liabits. He 

 further remarks : " The Blue Thrush very often perches 

 on trees, and at Gibraltar and Tangier Ls frequently 

 seen on the housetops, though generally observed on 

 bare, rocky ground. It is sometimes found in wooded 

 parts, if there are any high rocks ; for instance, a pair 

 nest at the first waterfiUl of Algcciras, which is in the 

 midst of a dense forest. It has a habit in the courting 

 season of flying straight out from a rock, and then 

 mddenly dropping with the wings half shut, like a 

 AVood Pigeon in the nesting time. The Blue Thrusb 

 is very fund of ivy berries and all fruit." 



Lord Lilford writes: — ''It is very omnivorous; 

 literally fish, flesh, fowl and fruit I have seen it devour 

 with apparently equal gusto, to sav nothing of almost 

 any insect." ('" Birds of Ceylon," "Vol. II., p. 462.) 

 Whitaker observes : " The /'a.sxcro solitdrin, as this bird 

 is called in Italy, is greatly prized in that and other 

 Mediterranean countries, not only on account of its 

 agreeable song, but also because of its bright and attrac- 

 tive ways-, for though rather shy in its natural state ir, 

 is capable of b''c(miing remarkably tame in confinement, 

 particul.irly when brought up from the nest. At the 

 present time I have one which is a delightful pet. 



"The song of the Blue R<Kk Thrush is composed of 

 sweet, flute like notes, re,sembling some of tho.se of the 

 common Thrush, although not quite equal to them. 

 The bird is al^o a goixl mimic, and has a facility for 

 acquiring the notes of other birds. 



" The nest of thi.s species, which is generally to be 

 found in a fissure nr cleft between rooks, or in the ho'e 

 of a wall, is composed chiefly of root fihres loosely put 

 together. The eggs, usually five in number, are of .1 

 beautiful glossy greenish blue, and in the case of all 

 those in my collection are without any spots. Average 

 measurements, 25mm. by 19mm. (" IJirds of Tunisia," 

 Vol. II., p. 20.) 



Whistling Thrushes (Mijiophmeus). 



According to Kuss, tlie.se birds should be fed like 

 other Thrushes, not forgetting the item of fruit. 

 Although he only know.s of one species as havnng been 

 imported, he describes three. 



Horsfield's Whistuxo Thrush ( Myiophoneus 



Male — Above and below, indigo-black ; a frontal 

 band not extending to base of bill, and .shoulders, bright 

 cob^ilt blue ; some of the feathers on the under surface 

 edged with the same colour; hill black: eyes dark 

 brown; feet Vjrownish blue. Female undescribed as 



distinct, but (judging by description of Bligh's 

 Whistling ThrushI the blue shoulder patch should be 

 piilsr and more conspicuous. Doubtless the form of the 

 bill also differs. Habitat, forests of Southern and Western 

 India. " It especially deJights in mountiun torrents, and 

 if there is a waterfaJl it is sure to be iound there. It 

 feeds on various insects, earthworms, slugs, shells, and 

 also on small crabs, which I have verj' frequently 

 found constituting its chief food ; and the remains of 

 legs, etc., of these Crustacea are generally found on the 

 rooKs m the edge of every pool of water frequented by 

 it I once procured its nest, placed under a shelf of ,1 

 rock on the Burliar stream, on the slope of the Neil- 

 gbeiTies. It was a large structure of roots, mi.xed with 

 earth, moss, etc., and contained three eggs of a pale 

 .salmon or reddish-fawn colour, with many smallish 

 biown six)ts. I kept a bird, which I had wounded 

 slightly, for some weeks, feeding it on earthworms and 

 snails, and every morning before sunrise I would hear 

 its fine whistle. Its song consists of four or five beauti- 

 fully cle:ir whistling notes, sc like the whis!,le of a 

 man or boy as to be constantly mistaken for it, and it 

 is known to many on the Neilgherries as the Wliittling 

 liirush. It would be a highly desirable ajid ■nteifst- 

 ing cage-bird." — Jerdon, " Birds of India," Vol. I., 

 page 499. 



In Oates's edition of Hume's " Nests and Eggs of 

 Indian Birds" are many accounts, from which I seJect 

 til'! following: — 



" Mr. W. Davison says, ' The Malabar Whistling 

 Thrush (rather a mLsnomer, by the way) breeds on the 

 slopes of the Nilghiris. never ascending higher than 

 6,000ft. The nest is always placed on some rock in 

 a mountain torrent; it is a coarse and, for the size of 

 the bird, a very large structure, and though I have 

 never measured the nest I should say that the total 

 height was about 18in. or more, and the greatest 

 diameter about 18in. Exteriorly it is com|)osed of 

 root^, dead leaves, and decaying vegetation of all kinds ; 

 the egg cjvity, which is saucer-shaped and compara- 

 tively shallow, is coaiseiy lined with ixx>tB. It breeds 

 during March and April.'" 



The statement that the nest is always placed on a 

 rock in a mountain torrent is disproved by Miss Cock- 

 bum, who took eggs from nests built high up in holes 

 in trees both in March and July; while Mr. J. Darling, 

 jun., remarks that "this species commonly builds in 

 holes in trees." He says; "July 22. — Nest found near 

 Kythery, S. Wynaad, in a crevice of a log of a felled 

 tree in a new clearing lift, from the ground. Nest 

 built entirely of roots. The foundation was of roots 

 from some swampy ground, and had a good deal of mud 

 about it. Another ^nest was in a hole of a dead tree 

 32ft. from the ground." 



Mr. Frank Bnurdillon writes from Travajicore : 

 " Very conmum from the base to near the summit of the 

 hills, freiiuenting alike jungle and open clearings, 

 though gt-ncriilly found in the neighhourhoo<i of some 

 running stream. I have known this species to build on 

 ledges of rock and in a hollow tree overhanging a stream, 

 in either case constructing a rather loosely put together 

 nest of roots and coarse fibre with a little green moss 

 intermixed. The female lays two to four eggs, and both 

 birds assist in the incubation. 



" The eggs of this s|>ecies .... are broad, nearly 

 regular ovals, slightly compressed towards the les.ser end, 

 considerably elongated, and more or less spherical, and 

 p\Tiform varieties occur. The shell is fine, and has a 

 slight gloss; the groundcolour is pale salmon-pink or 

 pinkish white, occasionally greyish white. The whole 

 egg is, as a rule, finely speckled, spotted, and splashed 

 with pinkish brown or brownish pink. The markings ii> 



